How to enjoy a live band in San Antonio
Hollis Webb, Floore’s Country Store, 2016.
After officially releasing RESCUE last month and playing a couple of shows to promote the record, I’ve been extraordinarily grateful to all you folks who have given me your evenings and your ears to come hear the band play. It has been fun to get better and better each time we perform and share that progress with those of you who are coming along this ride with us. We received a lot of positive feedback from our friends and family who came out to see the release show and it made me think about all of the local band shows I’ve seen here in San Antonio and other places.
That said, I was thinking of a few things I would recommend when you decide to go out and hear some kick-ass live music in Alamo City. The following list is not exclusive and I’m certain those of you with far more experience and years in this town could certainly add to it:
Leverage the local music calendars on a regular basis to find something cool to go to. The Current and Do210 both have exhaustive calendars curated both by the editors of the respective platforms and user-submitted events.
OR…OR…OR…
And I know this will sound crazy—but those annoying Facebook invites you receive from your well-meaning songwriter and music friends are also a good way to find a good venue you’ve never been and support a developing artist.
Take a fucking Uber. Or a Lyft. Or a cab. Or a chauffeured dual-horse chariot, just please don’t drive if you are going to be drinking or “recreating.” I don’t know when surge pricing is, but if you call an Uber at 3AM on a Saturday in the middle of a torrential downpour, yes, you may pay a little extra. This is still a much better scenario than driving while you are impaired, injuring or killing yourself, a passenger, another person, or getting arrested and a DWI ruining your life.
Grab your crew! Everything is better when we’re together. Teamwork makes the dream work, etc. Get a friend or friends and venture out (split the cost of the Uber).
Eat somewhere great. Be thankful you live in San Antonio. Find a food truck. Don’t count calories. Order the queso. Are you rock and roll, or rock and small?
Bring money to tip your bartenders and buy the band’s merch. Make a hard-working bartender’s night and take home a cool souvenir from your night out. Your kids or future robot overlords will loving looking at your record or rock t-shirt collection. You’re also (seriously) helping a musician or band make rent and be able to continue producing music.
Know thyself. Maintain. “Take a fucking Uber” could be rolled into this, but ultimately this is about knowing yourself, your situation, what you are putting in your body, and then keeping yourself together and having a nice time. Enough said: Know thyself. Maintain.
Be excellent to each other. If you are at a local show you are participating in a community. The band, the audience, the people who work in the venue: you will see these people again, I promise you. It’s remarkable what a small world we live in. Don’t ruin some other person’s night by being violent, racist, sexist, misogynistic, homophobic, too drunk, or just being a plain jerk. We’re here to have fun and none of that stuff is fun.
Be careful going home (TAKE A FUCKING UBER) Be sure to pay your tab at the bar, grab some merch, creep on the band and tell them how much they mean to you, and TAKE A FUCKING UBER.
Come out and enjoy a live show with us at The Mix this weekend September 15th at 10PM. My good friends Union Specific will be opening the show for us. Hope to see you there!
Get the new album RESCUE on vinyl, CD, or digital download from Bandcamp.